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Children get creative at Chalk in Hand event
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Karen Saunders (right) and Boardman library youth librarian Katherina Matasic told a story with shadow puppets during the Chalk in Hand event.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.A young boy was putting the finishing touches on his drawing of a cat during the Chalk in Hand event at the Boardman library.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Katherina Matasic read the book "Where the Wild Things Are" during the Chalk in Hand event at the Boardman library.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Boardman library assistant supervisor of children's works Karen Saunders began the Chalk in Hand event by having the children shake out their hands.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.After the story time indoors, the children were given chalk and let loose in the Boardman library parking lot to draw what they wanted during the Chalk in Hand event.
By TIM CLEVELAND
The Boardman library hosted its Chalk in Hand event on Aug. 27, giving children a chance to express their creative sides by drawing with chalk on the library’s parking lot.
The event’s attendance was down from prior years, with seven children and six adults attending.
“I guess one of the ideas is, this one we actually go outside, so that’s kind of a different experience here at the library,” said children’s librarian Katherina Matasic, who oversaw the event along with assistant supervisor of children’s works Karen Saunders. “We definitely want to encourage art and so that’s what a lot of this program is based on. We actually get out there and we do our art in the parking lot. It’s kind of nice, the community can kind of see what the kids draw out there.
“It’s kind of at the end of summer when some of the kids are back to school, some of the kids are still able to come. It’s sort of a special end of the summer program.”
The one-hour program began inside the library with Saunders and Matasic reading several books, including using shadow puppets.
After going out side, the children were let loose in a cordoned-off part of the parking lot and given chalk to draw what they wished. Matasic said there had been some creative drawings in years past.
“It’s really nice, because each kid kind of gets their own parking space so we’ve had kids do whole sceneries,” she said. “I know we had a unicorn a couple years ago. Sometimes they’ll do outer space. All kinds of fun things.”
A new element added for this year was the children were given Nature Print Paper on which to draw. The paper changes color when exposed to the sun.
Matasic said the program helps bring out the children’s creative sides.
“It’s definitely one of the big things that the library does is we want to encourage imagination and creativity,” she said. “This program definitely does that. It gives them that kind of free opportunity to just get out there and be creative.”